“It is better to be fit than unfit.” Who could disagree?  Health is good and desirable, sickness is bad and repugnant.  Pursuing the former and avoiding the latter are eminently worthwhile goals. But merely stating them in the form of goals leaves us in an overly abstract position.  Some goals are so basic and common-sensical that they literally cannot be criticized.  Concreteness and hence criticizability enters in when we begin considering practical means to achieving our goals: “the devil’s in the details.”  This is why so many things said in a State of the Union Address are unobjectionable: “Everyone deserves access to healthcare!” “We’re after an economy where all who want a good job can find one!” “I’m committed to lowering the out of wedlock birthrate!” “Nothing will stand between my administration and equality for all!”  The devil indeed is in the details.  Constructing a euphemism therefore involves among other things placing rhetorical emphasis for controversial ideas on readily acceptable values: pro-choice, planned parenthood, therapeutic medicine, hereditary improvement techniques.  Eugenics is a fertile ground for the use of euphemisms.

“By examining the genetic makeup of embryos, we can guarantee your next child will be the sex of your choice.” (Jeffrey Steinberg, The Fertility Institutes in Los Angeles, from website [1])

“Britain is now admired internationally for its policies and practice in reproductive biology…[It gives] legal sanction to mixed animal–human embryos, preimplantation genetic diagnosis and saviour siblings…China has started to implement permissive national guidelines; the Chinese attitude towards the embryo is not burdened with Christian views.” (Ruth Deech, former chair of Britain’s Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority [2])